Thursday, March 10, 2011

Long Live analysis. Scoring is Dead


Scoring is dead. Long live analysis.







Alongside this is the growing trend for using statistics to aid with coaching and developing players. The old fashioned scorebook is no longer enough. Top sides have started to employ analysts to watch and record every ball.
Unlike the scorer, analysts are tactically and technically savvy. They take details like a scorer would, but they also analyse trends in play to feedback to the coach and captain so they can work on weaker aspects.
Want some examples?
Here are some key areas the traditional scorer either doesn’t record or ignores:
  • Contacts: It’s a statistical fact (and common sense) that the more a batsman plays at a ball the more likely he is to get out. A scorer records a dot as a dot. An analyst records what happened (the ball was struck cleanly, the ball was edged, the ball was played and missed and so on).
  • Scoring Percentage: Most scorers present batting averages, some even during the season. The analyst will know batting average and strike rate. He or she will also know what percentage of balls a batsman makes a scoring shot. It’s also handy to know what percentage of scoring shots are boundaries.
  • Bowling Partnerships: Modern coaches talk a lot about bowling in partnerships. Unlike batting partnerships the scorer never looks at how well bowlers bowl in pairs. Analysts look at rates per over, averages and strike rates of bowling partnerships.
But these stats are just the start. The real job of the analyst is to provide more than raw numbers.
An analyst links stats to real life cricket improvements
To illustrate what I mean, let’s take a typical example of an analyst in a club situation.
The captain wants his side to be better at running between the wickets. The team have a tendency to want to score with boundaries in a blaze of glory and it’s leaving the side short of runs with opportunities missed.
The analyst, captain and coach get together. The analyst demonstrates that the side score a lot of runs in boundaries but also pat back a lot of balls that could be worked as singles. This is especially true in the first 20 overs. The analyst suggests setting a target of 40 singles in the first 20 overs and 40 singles in the last 30 overs.
The coach and captain agree. The coach goes away and designs a training plan to coach players to reach the newly set target.
As time passes the analyst watches the result and reports back, allowing the coach to see how well his training is working while the captain can decide if the targets are realistic and testing but still achievable.
At club level analysts won’t have access to equipment to video and notate every ball, but a knowledgeable person in the scorebox is just the edge your team needs to spot problems and deal with them in training.
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In-depth analysis makes your coaching much more efficient

  • Capture every aspect of matches and practice sessions . . . and not just the good stuff, through ball by ball match notes
    • Dropped catches
    • Missed stumpings
    • Mis-fields
    • Singles not taken
    • Shots not played . . .
  • Don't just tell them - show them!
    • Back up your coaching messages with hard evidence
  • Better understand their coaching needs
  • Tailor your coaching to individuals
  • Build on strengths, work on weaknesses
    • Shot selection
    • Running between wickets
    • Bowling tactics and accuracy
    • Field placings (captains and bowlers)
    • Wicketkeeping
    • Fielding (mis-fields, dropped catches . . .)
  • Easily umpire and score at the same time!
  • Share team performances with the players, parents and fans!
  • See the improvement more tangibly than ever before
  • PitchPad helps you demonstrate graphically to your players where their weaknesses lie. When players are shown a wagon wheel or chart of their performance, it can hammer the point home in a way that mere verbal explanation could not do.
  • Your scorer can upload the match for online review even during the match, allowing you to assess your strategy and tactics during play.
  • Youth coaches: we've found that kids are very highly motivated by seeing their own wagon wheels. It encourages them to compete against their own past performances, and helps to bring out the best in them.   

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Cricket Batting Tips to Take You to The Top

Nothing can very be more beautiful to watch on the cricket field, than to see a batsman in full flow. Even world class bowlers have admitted to being overwhelmed when they see a batsman in full swing. So we mortal beings stand no chance but become overwhelmed by a good batting display. Batting is not an easy thing to do in a cricket field, be it any condition. There are several cricket batting tips that need to be implemented properly, if a player wants to bat really well in a cricket match. The batsman must have a proper knowledge and idea about all the batting tips that he can catch hold of. The ability of a batsman is ably displayed if he knows all the cricket batting tips. The real test of the character that a batsman goes through is in the test matches, where the batsman needs to stay at the crease as long as possible.

The first and foremost batting tip, which every cricketer needs to follow is proper footwork. Footwork is the most crucial aspect of batting and a batsman must have excellent footwork to play different kinds of shot. In this modern era of fast paced Cricket, still there are lot of players who are well- known for their footwork and sound temperament. Great players like Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar, Brain Lara of West Indies and Ricky Ponting of Australia are renowned all over the world due to their excellent footwork and strokeplay. Apart from these players, the Indian Captain Rahul Dravid has gained the tag of “The Wall” because of his footwork combined with excellent timing. So if you are dreaming of one day becoming like any of these great players, you surely know from where to start now. Well this is just the beginning.

One of the major advantages of having a good footwork is that it allows you to time the ball very well and place the ball perfectly in the gaps. Proper footwork enables you to be in the best position to hit any ball perfectly with your cricket bat. Work really hard on your footwork if you want to perfect the art of batting and hit different types of shot. Timing of your shots also becomes perfect if you have a good and proper footwork and sound technique.

A batsman must have the ideal grip to be able to play all the strokes properly. The ideal grip on the bat must be both the hands together at the handle of the bat. Make sure that your grip is neither too loose nor too tight. The correct grip allows you to bat with flair and also does not restrict you in playing any of the shots. So take care of the grip you have and see if you need to make any correction in your existing grip. Maybe the grip is that thing which is not working out properly for your batting.

Batting is one of the most exciting components of a cricket match. One way of perfecting your batting is through playing each ball according to its merit. It is not possible every time for a bowler to ball six good balls in an over and also it is very rare that you will receive six bad balls in an over. Remember it takes only one good ball to get you out. So watch each and every ball very carefully and watch out for balls that may prove for your undoing. Watch out for that ball.

Keep watching the ball in the bowlers hand till the ball is delivered. If you follow this meticulously you can very easily find out what type of ball the bowler is going to deliver. If you do this then you can be prepared in advance to face the type of ball being bowled to you and then adjust your footwork and shots accordingly. Always remember to follow cricket batting tips if you want to be a successful batsman.

Summary: - Cricket batting tips will surely make you a better batsman if you follow them properly. You can get the tips everywhere, from your coach, your playing mates and senior cricket players. You just need to implement the tips correctly if you want to perfect your batting.